Prana, the vital breath, is born of Self. Like a person and his shadow, the Self and Prana are inseparable. Prana enters the body at birth, but does not die with the body.
Since, O Mazda, from the beginning, Thou didst create soul and body; mental power and knowledge and since Thou didst place life within the corporeal body and didst bestow to mankind the power to act, speak and guide, you wished that everyone should choose his or her own faith and path freely.
The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of Divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly.
Soul receives from soul that knowledge, therefore, not by book, nor from tongue. If knowledge of mysteries comes after emptiness of mind, that is illumination of heart.
